First Photo From THE TOXIC AVENGER Remake Starring Peter Dinklage
The photo above is our first teaser look at Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze in Legendary’s upcoming remake of The Toxic Avenger.
In the film, A horrible toxic accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze into a new evolution of hero: The Toxic Avenger!
The film comes from writer and director Macon Blair‘s (I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore, Green Room), and the fresh take on the Troma classic is set to premiere at Fantastic Fest in September.
The movie was slapped with an R-rating for “Strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity,” which I’m sure fans were expecting.
When previously talking about the film Dinklage described the film as being “over the top and crazy” and it will include, what is described as a “butt guts” scene. Sound editor Casey Genton previously offered a little tease of what’s coming, saying:
"It's a really funny movie. Macon Blair, the director, I think did a really good job with it. Everybody was a dream on the film. I'm so surprised — for me personally, I had not seen the original 'Toxic Avenger' until I had done this film. And it's a huge cult classic, and I know people are really excited about it. When they have tested it, fans of the film have been over the moon with the film. [...] It's pretty out there. I think it's a different crack. They're giving the fans what they want, for sure. There's no lack of — I know everybody references the little kid's head getting run over and stuff. I think that there was an iteration of the film that didn't have enough of that, so they made a very — I don't want to ruin it. But it has, it's been nicknamed the 'butt guts' scene, and it's probably the best way to match that 'head getting run over' energy that everybody's looking for. So it's in line with the fan base, and I think it's hilarious."
The original film told the story of a bullied janitor who becomes a mutant superhero after falling into a vat of toxic waste and transforms into a radioactive hero. The synopsis for the new film reads:
While the original film (which premiered in 1984 - almost 40 years ago!) followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mitch Cohen), who goes from zero to toxic hero in a case of bullying gone awry, Blair’s contemporary take follows a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength all his own.
Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger. This timely reimagining is up to its eyeballs in environmental themes as Winston goes up against the evil forces of greed and corruption to save his son, his friends, and his community.
Dinklage is joined in the film by Jacob Tremblay, Kevin Bacon, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Julia Davis. There’s no release date for the film yet, but it’s expected to be revealed soon after its Fantastic Fest debut.